Wednesday, June 11, 2008

I'm back from my 12-day US trip, when I managed to present a paper in Bloomington, spend 4 wonderful days in St Louis with Alanna, and finally wander around the hot-hot-hot New York for five days. During the trip I ate lots of food and met many lovely foodbloggers, and I'll certainly tell you more soon..

But it's good to be back home, where the temperatures are much more tolerable, and where my dear K. had baked a batch of cannelés to welcome me back :)

I thought that rhubarb season would be over by the time I got back. But no. Mysteriously, a whole basketful of rosy stalks has appeared in our garage, and I've been given various hints about various rhubarb desserts I should be making in the coming days. I'm an obedient girl, so I'll think of something. One thing I'm tempted to do again is this delicious vanilla panna cotta with roast rhubarb. The recipe is from Jamie Oliver, but I've very slightly adapted it (I used less vanilla and slightly more gelatine, instead of lemon zest I used some pure orange oil). I made it for the panna cotta cooking event on my Estonian site - you can check out the fabulous contributions here.

To make panna cotta:Place the gelatine leaves into a cold water and let to soak for 5 to 10 minutes (I used 2 gelatine leaves, but you can use 3 for a slightly firmer texture).Mix the milk, vanilla pod, vanilla seeds, orange oil and half the cream in a small saucepan. Bring slowly into a boil and simmer on a gentle heat for 10 minutes or until reduced by a third.Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the soaked gelatine leaves until dissolved.Allow to cool at a room temperature, then place in the fridge for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until the mixture coats the back of a spoon.Remove the vanilla pods.Whip together the icing sugar with the remaining cream. Mix the two cream mixtures together and divide into four serving moulds. Cover and chill for at least an hour, preferably four.

To roast rhubarb:Meanwhile chop the rhubarb into 5cm pieces, sprinkle with sugar and roast at 200C/400F for 30 minutes, until softened, but not mushy. (I've added chopped candied ginger sometimes - gives an extra kick to the rhubarb).

To serve:Dip the small moulds into some simmering water for 5 seconds to loosen the panna cotta a little, then turn it out on to a plate. Spoon the roasted rhubarb onto the plate and serve.

Welcome back, dear Pille! Sounds from Alanna's snippets that you had a total ball - I'm so glad :) Have never tried roasting rhubarb (although I have tried it in a variety of other ways and loved them all!) - definitely inspired by this recipe and can't wait to hear more about the trip.

Nice to have you back Pille! And with a lovely recipe. I am really enjoying rhubarb this season too and find this a great way to enjoy it. I too posted a lovely rhubarb compote - something I think you will like!